Transformers Reborn
by Navek
Summary: My take on the Transformers Mythos! Four million years ago, a group of robotic warriors crash-landed on Earth in their quest to find one of their greatest artifacts. Now, they awaken in the present and come to a horrifying realization; their mortal foes, the Decepticons, have followed them. Now their war is doomed to continue, with the people of Earth caught in the crossfire.
1. Prologue

_**Every civilization goes through eras of birth and destruction. And ours was no exception. What began as war for equal rights evolved into a calamity that ravaged Cybertron, our homeworld.**_

 _ **In the centuries of war, many of our greatest relics were lost or destroyed. One of these was the Great Cube, a device capable of converting virtually anything into raw Energon. However, the ancients believed that no one bot should wield that much power. And so, they jettisoned the cube into the vastness of space, never to be seen again.**_

 _ **The year is 3935 VS. The Decepticon Uprising has left Cybertron as a barely hospitable husk. Several of our comrades have taken off in Ark ships with the hope of finding new worlds to call home. However, I was not among those passengers.**_

 _ **Twenty solar cycles before the first Ark launch, our astronomers managed to pinpoint the location of the Great Cube; The third planet of the far-off Sol System. I had heard tales of the Cube from my time as a data clerk. If the legends are true, then it may the salvation Cybertron needs.**_

 _ **We have no knowledge of what lies in the Sol System. What dangerous lifeforms reside there. But this is a risk we need to take. To that effect, I have assembled a team of strongest Autobot warriors with the task of travelling to the Sol System and bringing the Great Cube back to Cybertron.**_

 _ **We will retrieve the Cube. Or die trying.**_

" _Welp, we're dead."_ A green & black robot said in deadpan, running through the corridors as the ship was rattled by another explosion. This robot had a silver faceplate with blue optics, a pair of goggles on his green forehead, and a green & black kibble duster hanging from his waist.

" _You've said that five times in the last ten kliks."_ His female companion stated. She was bulkier than her companion, standing at least four feet taller than him. Like her comrade, she had a silver faceplate with blue optics. Her color scheme was primarily blue & white with pints of black and yellow (specifically the fin above her optics).

" _Only 'cause it's true! Here I thought this was just gonna be a simple artifact fetchin' quest, and instead we got the slaggin' Nemesis raining fire on us!"_

" _You keep whining and I'm gonna shove a grenade down your intake port!"_ The second male robot proclaimed. Like his female companion, he also had a bulky frame, although his primary color was red and black. His face was also far different from his allies, with red armor covering his mouthpiece and a blue visor over his optics. But the most noticeable part of him was the massive cannon sticking out of his chest.

" _Do it and you're dead."_ A tiny dark orange robot with a silver mouthplate said to his larger foe, glaring behind his blue visor.

Yes, these were robots of various colors, sizes, and designs. But one thing they had in common was the red face insignia on their bodies (the green ones was on his back, the blue female had hers on her chest plate, the red ones was above his chest cannon, and small one had it on his left shoulder).

" _Ease it, Pinpointer."_ The green one said to his comrade. " _Warpath can't help himself. Then again, what can you expect from a 'bot that has a cannon sticking out him?"_

" _Enough!"_ The blue female said. " _We could run into Decepticons at any moment."_

And indeed, the green robot turned the corner and saw a horde of purple and silver identical looking robots with silver faceplates and orange visors. He barely managed to leap back around before they opened fire with a barrage of lasers.

" _Point taken."_ He said to his female companion. " _We got at least twenty Vehicons closing in!"_

The blue and white robot nodded before her right hand transformed into a dark blue single-barreled rifle. " _Warpath, do your thing!"_

" _Finally!"_ The red robot cheered, turning around the corner and quickly transforming into a hover tank. " _KABLAM!"_

And with that onamonapia, Warpath blasted at least five of enemies to slag and giving his teammates a chance to get into the fray.

" _Crosshairs!"_ Pinpointer shouted before leaping towards his green companion, transforming into a high-powered sniper rifle as he did.

" _Time to lay to some heat!"_ Crosshairs proclaimed before sliding his goggles over his optics and arming his partner/rifle. With three pulls of the trigger, three maser shots went through the chests of three Vehicons, taking them offline. But as his enemies fell, he noticed more enemy troops coming down the hallway. " _Oh scrap! Strongarm, we got more 'cons incoming!"_

The aforementioned robot simply activated a device on her left wrist, creating a blue energy shield on her arm that blocked some oncoming fire before returning with her own.

" _Strongarm to Bridge; we've intercepted invading Vehicon troopers in sector 8-B!"_

" _Acknowledged Strongarm."_ A male voice replied on the other side of the transmission. " _Whirl and Roadbuster are dealing with heavy fire in 30-G. And Ironhide's dealing with the troops on 13-O."_

" _Aren't the turncoat twins supposed be taking care of boarding tunnels?!"_ Crosshairs shouted as the three of them counted to fire upon their foes. " _And what the Pit is Prime doing in all of this?!"_

" _Hey, you try shooting something down while simultaneously fighting enemy flyers and evading auto-cannons! See if you do any better, slaghead!"_ Another male voice yelled out over the comms.

" _What my brother means is that it's going to take us a bit longer to shoot down the tunnels."_ A much calmer male voice followed. " _Just please hold on until we do."_

" _Acknowledged, Jetfire."_ A calm authoritative voice replied. " _And to answer your second question, Crosshairs, Ratchet and I are attempting to repair Omega's warp engines. They were severely damaged when the Nemesis fired its initial attack. Blaster, as soon as we finish repairs, I want you to initiate a spacebridge jump immediately. Jetfire, Jetstorm, make sure you're back on the ship as soon as you destroy the boarding tunnels. Everyone else, make the ship isn't destroyed before we can jump."_

" _You got it, Big Bot! WHABAM!"_ Warpath shouted before blasting away from Vehicons with his cannon.

" _He makes it sound so easy."_ Crosshairs commented as he and Strongarm continued their battle with the Vehicons.

Outside, the spaceways were riddled with laser fire as the curved orange Omega was under attack by the jagged silver and purple warship known as the Nemesis, the former raining fire on the latter while three long purple boarding tunnels connected the two ships. As this was going on, a blue and white jet was being chased by two purple & silver jets, rolling out of the way of rapid-fire lasers as it did.

" _I got two flyers on my tail! I can't shake 'em!'_ Jetstorm stated, beginning to fly downwards, hoping to lose his pursuers.

" _Circle around point Gamma, bro. I'll take 'em by surprise!"_ Jetfire responded via comm. Jetstorm did just as his brother instructed, flying underneath the Omega. As soon as he led them into the open, an orange and white jet came down from above and fired a barrage of missiles, blowing them to pieces. Jetfire then reconvened with his brother, flying side by side.

" _And this is why we don't fly in half-cocked."_ The orange jet stated.

" _Save the lecture for when we're not getting the slag blasted out of us!"_ Jetstorm retorted as the brothers swung around the Omega's topside and saw that Nemesis had launched another squadron of Vehicon flyers. " _Gotta, I'm getting really sick of this."_

" _Link Up?"_ Jetfire asked.

" _Link Up."_ Jetstorm replied. The two jets shifted until their undercarriages were facing each other, short streams of lightning beginning to connect them. The two connected and blasted off, their combined power making them fly three times faster than their foes. With a single run and a barrage of lasers and missiles, the combined jet managed to blast apart the siege tunnels and even took out a few Vehicons with them.

" _Boarding tunnels destroyed!"_ The two said in unison. " _Redocking with Omega!"_

A hangar hatch opened underneath the Omega and the combined jet quickly flew in. As soon as the did, the brothers detached from each other and transformed into their robot modes. Jetfire's robotic form having two yellow optics and a silver mouth plate while Jetstorm had a blue visor over his optics. Both of them had the same red face insignias.

" _Ratchet to all points; Optimus and I have just finished repairs. How you're feeling, Omega?"_

" _ **SYSTEMS: OPTIMAL. WARP ENGINES: READY."**_ A booming voice echoed over the transmission waves.

" _Good to hear, old friend."_ Optimus replied. " _Autobots, take out the remaining Vehicons and prepare for spacebridge jump!"_

" _Roger!"_ Everyone replied. One the bridge, the Autobot Blaster was feeding the coordinates into the Warp computer. Like many of his comrades, he had blue optics and a silver mouth plate. His body was primary red with silver legs and scanner resting above his optics and a square yellow chest compartment.

" _All right, guys. Prepare to launch in one cycle!"_ The communications officer stated as he finished typing in the final calculations. " _55, 54, 53…"_

" _Wreck 'N' Rule!"_ Two Autobots shouted, destroying Vehicons as they stood back-to-back. One was a hulking bot of brown, orange, and dark green with a green visor who blasting enemies to pieces with his many weapons. By comparison, his partner was a thin light-blue robot with a cone-shaped head, a single yellow optic, no mouth plate, and was slicing any Vehicon foolish enough to get close to him with two super-heated blades in his stick-like claws.

" _...37, 36, 35…"_

In another part of the ship, a black hover truck was weaving through waves of Vehicons, blasting them with his two side cannons.

" _...14, 13, 12…"_

Back with Strongarm, Crosshairs, Pinpointer, and Warpath, they had finished up the Vehicons on their end and were bracing themselves for the jump.

" _...3, 2, 1!"_ Blaster finished, pushing the jump switch forward.

" _ **SPACEBRIDGE: ACTIVATE."**_

A beam of green energy blasted out of Omega's aft side and into the space in front of the ship. In seconds, a massive green swirling portal manifested in front of them and the orange ship blasted ahead. As soon as it completely entered the portal, it closed up, leaving the Nemesis alone in space.

" _DAMN IT ALL!"_ The acting captain of the Nemesis shouted, smashing the arms of his command chair as he did. He was a massive behemoth of a robot. His primary color was dark purple with bits of dark green and a single red optic over his hinged mouth. " _Soundwave, where are they headed?"_

" _Calculating."_ Another robot replied, although his voice was heavily filtered. His body was dark blue with a silver square chest (which had the same purple Decepticon insignia as his captain did), a red visor, silver faceplate, and a circular missile pod on his right shoulder. " _Probable Autobot destination determined: Sol System."_

" _What? Why would Prime be heading for that backwater system?"_ The large 'con wondered out loud. " _Well, we'll have plenty of time to speculate. Plot a course after them!"_

" _Statement: Approximate travel time is 4, 093, 74…"_

" _I didn't ask how long it would take! I ordered you to go after them!"_ The captain shouted before standing up, looking at the bridge crew of Vehicons. " _Is that understood?!"_

" _Yes, General Lugnut!"_ The Vehicons replied with a wave of salutes.

" _Affirmative."_ Soundwave replied before plotting the course into the Nemesis' navigation systems.

" _For the glory of Lord Megatron, we will capture Optimus Prime! No matter how long it takes!"_ Lugnut proclaimed, his optic glowing with rage.

Meanwhile, the Omega manifested above its designation, a small blue planet surrounded mostly by vast oceans. However, there was a major problem. The damage Omega had sustained from the battle had destroyed its gyroscopic stabilizers. The added heat from orbital re-entry wasn't helping matters. Or as Crosshairs put it best...

" _WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"_

" _Everyone, get to the stasis pods!"_ Optimus shouted. And as the Autobots raced to safety, barely making it, Omega crashed onto the planet, falling into its vast ocean, until it reached the very bottom, trapping it in pressures no organic life could ever hope to reach. But what the Autobots did not know is that this would be the last time they would be active for a long time. That they had unintentionally brought their war to this world. And to those who would inhabit it centuries from now.

 **Author's Note: While I have been a casual fan of the Transformers franchise ever since I was a child, it was only recently that I really got into the series (to the point that I added Lost Light to my monthly comic pull list). And now more than ever, I understand how idiotic the Michael Bay movies were in comparison and just on their own. And with the fifth (and apparently the worst) movie out, I decided to throw my hat into the ring. So let's hope for the best!**

 **For now, let's take a look at our Autobot cast!**

 **1). Optimus Prime - Leader of the Autobots. Before the Decepticon Uprising, he was a desk clerk named Orion Pax. Despite his protests on being drafted into the Autobots, Orion proved to be a skilled warrior, managing to survive two encounters with Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. After the death of Zeta Prime, Orion was chosen by the Matrix of Leadership, transforming into Optimus Prime.**

 **Despite his position as Autobot commander, Optimus has his own moral code; He won't kill his foes if he can capture them, disarm them, or convince them to join his side (this being how he recruited Crosshairs to join the Autobots). He believes that freedom is the right of all sentient life, and will die to defend that belief.**

 **Author's Note: You can't have a Transformers story without Optimus Prime...unless you're the Lost Light crew or the Wreckers. And I just noticed this similarity between Optimus Prime and Wonder Woman of all people. Both are willing to kill, but only there is absolutely no other solution. They both believe in the best of humanity (or roboanity in Prime's case), despite being surrounded by the darkness and complexity of war.**

 **So ya, this is an Optimus that's willing to kill, but he won't be screaming "Give me your face!" or "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"**

 **2). Ironhide - Second-in-Command of the Autobots. Ironhide is one of Cybertron's greatest veterans with a punch first, ask questions later attitude. But despite that, he holds the same love of life that his commander Optimus does, which also attracted his conjunx endura, Chromia. Now on Earth, he must deal with the more volatile Autobots such as Whirl and Warpath while still kicking Decepticon metal on the battlefield.**

 **Author's Note: One of the first five Autobots in the Bay movies and one my favorite Autobots of all time, there's just something pure and awesome about Ironhide in any incarnation...expect Energon. And while he does have a hair-trigger attitude, he does know when to reel it back a bit.**

 **3). Ratchet - An old friend of Zeta Prime and possibly the oldest Autobot stationed on Earth. He serves as the doctor onboard the Omega. He's usually in a bad mood, not helped by patients like Warpath. But when it's time to battle, his skill with a heat blade is almost as precise as his skill with a scalpel.**

 **Author's Note: I don't know why, but I've always loved the old curmudgeon doctor character. And most modern depictions of Ratchet exemplify this. And shame on you Age of Extinction! You killed off someone who could actually talk so your precious mute kid-appeal character could live.**

 **4). Crosshairs - Fact: If Crosshairs has a gun in his hands, a Decepticon is going offline. Another fact: Crosshairs is an asshole. During the war, Crosshairs made a killing by selling weapons to both sides of the war. However, when a deal with the Combaticons went south, the surly bot was saved by Optimus and Ironhide. As such, those two are the only Autobots Crosshairs remotely respects alongside his Targetmaster partner Pinpointer.**

 **Author's Note: If there's one thing I'll give Bayformers kudos for, its Crosshairs. Not only does he have a unique design and fun asshole personality, but he's voiced by John DiMaggio. And yet, we never once hear him tell someone to bite his shiny metal ass. Aside from being the malcontent whose usually to call someone out on their bullshit (even Optimus), he's also their ace marksman. A...Targetmaster if you will.**

 **5). Strongarm - One of the younger members of Optimus' crew, Strongarm is an optimist who believes their mission will be the salvation of Cybertron. Before joining the Omega crew, she worked as a peacekeeping officer working amongst the civilian population. Her prowess in battle was shown when the Decepticon Barricade attempted to abduct cybertronians for Shockwave's experiments. But as a by-the-books officer, she often clashes with other members of the team such as the Dinobots, Whirl, Warpath, and especially Crosshairs.**

 **Author's Note: With the infamous fanservice moments of Bayformers, what better way to make-up to the female fans then by having one of the most badass fembots of the series front and center. She also serves as the rookie of the Autobots in place of Bumblebee.**

 **6-7). Safeguard (Jetfire and Jetstorm) - A pair of spark twins who were part of an exploration group called the Seekers. However, while the elder Seekers decided to join the Decepticon uprising, the Jet twins turned against them and joined the Autobots.**

 **Despite their names, Jetfire is actually the calm and rational twin while Jetstorm is the hot-headed risk taker. And thanks to their twin sparks, they are among the few Transformers capable of power-linking to form the aerial ace, Safeguard.**

 **Author's Note: This is what Skids and Mudflap from Revenge of the Fallen should have been...that and not be racist stereotypes. Jetfire has always been a personal favorite of mine, so this version is kind of a hybrid between his G1 defector self and his Animated self. Also, as a GaoGaiGar fan, I'm a sucker for the Symmetrical Docking-like transformation.**

 **And incase anyone is wondering, their Earth alt-modes are going to be a pair of Boeing** **F/A-18E/F Super Hornets.**

 **8-10). Blaster (and his deployers, Steeljaw & Ramhorn) - The Autobot communications officer and lover of music, Blaster would've been happy just listening to his collection for the rest of his life. But as Cybertron was plunging into war, he decided to aid the Autobot cause to bring peace back to his world. Out of all the Autobots on the Omega, Blaster is one of the more even-tempered bots. As such, he's pretty much the one people go too when they need to get something off their chest. **

**Blaster is also a Deployer, a rare breed of Transformer able to store Mini-cons within himself. His partners are the even-tempered Steeljaw and the violent Ramhorn.**

 **Author's Note: Out of all of the Transformers, Blaster is probably the one I'd love to hang out with. He's a cool bot with a love of rock music, and music makes a large part of me loving a TV Show, Game, Movie, or Anime. Throughout this hypothetical series, he would have a rivalry with Soundwave, trying to re-establish contact with the Autobots in space, and trying to keep his friend's spirits up with whatever music he downloads from Earth's internet.**

 **11). Warpath - An Autobot that shoots first and asks questions...never because he's blown his opponent to bits. Then again, what can you expect from a bot that has a cannon permanently sticking out of his chest? The excitable and hot-headed Warpath has no tolerance for anyone who's unwilling to fight, which often puts him in conflict with the pessimistic Crosshairs, his no-nonsense Targetmaster partner Pinpointer, and the by-the-books Strongarm, even though they function well as a combat unit. However, he does get along well with Whirl and Roadbuster, often joking that the six of them are a new incarnation of the Wreckers.**

 **Author's Note: Here's a legitimate question: why did Michael Bay never put Warpath in a movie when everything about him pretty much makes him Bay's dream Transformer? He's violent, loves to blow stuff up, and his alt-mode is a freakin' tank (which combines Bay's military obsession with his explosion obsession). Also, he's one of personal favorites. I mean how can you not like a guy that shouts his own sound effects?**

 **12). Roadbuster - A former member of the Wreckers who joined the Omega crew alongside his partner Whirl, Roadbuster is an Autobot who carries to most weapons into battle, to the point where even his alt-mode is armed to the teeth. However, centuries of doing nothing but fighting have left Roadbuster wondering if he has any purpose after the war is over. As such, he often spends his free time making sure all the weapons are properly maintained, secluding himself from the other Autobots aside from Whirl.**

 **Author's Note: The Wreckers are my favorite sub-group of Autobots, and what better Wrecker to have than one who's a member in every continuity they appear in, even the live-action movies. Roadbuster is a character that I find intriguing since he faces a problem many veterans face; when you've done nothing but fighting for what seems like forever, how do you move on from that? That's a question that Roadbuster knows he's gonna have to confront one day, and one that terrifies him. But until then, he's gonna tear-up some Decepticon butt and be an utter badass while doing it.**

 **13). Whirl - Egotistical, attention-hungry, insane, a lover of the fine arts, and phenomenally gifted with a blade. These are all things that describe Whirl. While his partner Roadbuster opts to blow the hell out of his foes, Whirl prefers sword combat, as it is a more sophisticated and artistic style of fighting according to him. But underneath all that egomania is someone truly loyal to the Autobot cause, and someone who wishes that he could make watches like he used to before the war.**

 **Author's Note: My favorite member of the Lost Light crew had to make it one in my own version of the Autobots! This Whirl combines traits from his G1, IDW, and Aligned versions to create this living paradox of insanity and sophistication. And like I mentioned with the Jet twins, the Autobots could use all the air support they can get.**

 **14). Pinpointer - As the war on Cybertron raged on, several Mini-Cons found themselves embroiled in the war effort. While most of them were relegated to engineering positions, some forged themselves into powerful weapons and binary bonding with larger companions. These are the Targetmasters, and Pinpointer is one of the best. An efficient Autobot of few words, his partnership with the rude and arrogant Crosshairs confuse many, not knowing that Pinpointer actually respects his partner for not being afraid to speak his mind.**

 **Author's Note: The Targetmasters are by far the best of the 'Master' Transformers since they actually have a decent roll in battle. And since his partner is already on my list, it was pretty much a no brainer to have this guy join the team. However, this version of Pinpointer would have a different alt-mode then his G1 counterpart; instead of turning into a grenade launcher, Pinpointer turns into a high-powered sniper rifle. And personally, I think that fits his name better.**

 **15). Omega Supreme - The last of the Guardians, Omega Supreme is the most powerful Autobot in existence and their last resort. His alt-mode is the Autobot flagship simply called the Omega. As the last Guardian, Omega Supreme is absolutely loyal to the Autobot cause, even to the point of self-sacrifice. After their crash-landing on Earth, Omega's T-Cog was destroyed, leaving him unable to transform. But despite this setback, Omega still does all he can to make sure the Autobots have a place to call home within him, using tiny drones known as Teletrans to help with the upkeep of his inner workings.**

 **Author's Note: I've saved the best and biggest for last! When I first saw Omega Supreme in War for Cybertron, my jaw dropped! The idea that the Autobots had this big and loyal behemoth on their side was just amazing, and I loved how he served a dual purpose in Animated as their ship. But unlike Animated, this Omega would not be asleep, just unable to transform until the Autobots create a replacement T-Cog. Plus, Omega would be a major asset against foes like Unicorn and the Quintessons.**

 **And there you have it, my version of the Autobots! Or at least my version of Team Prime, with others to join them in the future. But either way, I believe that this line-up of Autobots represents the Transformers in all of their incarnations and captures their spirit.**

 **Please remember to read, favorite, and review! See ya next time!**


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to Earth

**Author's Note 1: Transformers Reborn is a non-profit fanfiction.**

 **Transformers is owned by Takara and Hasbro.**

 **Any original characters and concepts are owned by Navek or xpegasus.**

 **Please support the official release.**

 **The Autobots have crash-landed on Earth! What will happen to our heroes now? But first, here's the opening for this series!**

 _(Opening: The Transformers Theme by Lion)_

 _(We see war raging on Cybertron, followed by the Great Cube floating through space, the Omega and the Nemesis firing on each other, followed by the Omega crashing into Earth's ocean.)_

 _TRANSFORMERS!_

 _(We see various metal shapes shifting in space until they form the story logo: Transformers Reborn.)_

 _Strong enough to break the bravest heart_

 _So we have to pull together_

 _We can't stay worlds apart_

 _(Vortex attacks the NATO base in Qatar, first in vehicle mode and then in robot form. Strongarm protects Erika from Barricade before engaging him in hand-to-hand combat.)_

 _To stand divided we will surely fall_

 _Until our darkest hour_

 _When the light will save us all_

 _(The Jet Twins battle Onslaught, Brawl, and Swindle in the desert. Optimus, Ironhide, and Ratchet introduce themselves to Erika, Gabriel, and Mjolnir Company. Finally, we see Lugnut mobilizing the Decepticons from the Nemesis and the Great Cube surrounded by several Sector Seven scientists)._

 _Transformers_

 _More than meets the eye_

 _(Warpath, Roadbuster, and Whirl open fire on the Combaticons. Pinpointer leaps and transforms into Crosshairs' sniper rifle.)_

 _Transformers_

 _Robots in Disguise_

 _(Blaster brings up several holograms of Earth vehicle specs before we see the Autobots transforming into their vehicle modes.)_

 _Transformers_

 _Autobots wage their Battle_

 _To destroy the evil forces_

 _Of the Decepticons_

 _(The Combaticons combine into Bruticus, the Jet Twins combine into Safeguard, Strika leads a squad of Vehicons against Strongarm, Ironhide, and Ratchet, Omega launches a Groundbridge beam into the sky, and Optimus Prime engages Starscream in battle, his Heat Axe against Starscream's lasersaber.)_

 _Transform!_

 _(Our final shot shows the Autobots and a silhouette of Omega Supreme standing in front of Earth.)_

 _Chapter 1: Welcome to Earth_

Earth. Most spacefaring races didn't know of it or the life it that called it home. Those that did considered it a backwater planet teeming with stupid, barely evolved life. On the rare occasion Earth was the topic of conversation, they would joke of how comically stupid the dominant species was despite it's age. They fought with each other over the pettiest things, were highly superstitious, and hadn't even traveled past their moon.

But despite this, the planet itself held untold beauty. One of the most prominent examples being the ocean, a vast and deep body of water that that covered most of the planet's surface. Underneath, it held countless secrets humankind could barely comprehend. And one of these was Omega Supreme.

Ever since the crash, the orange starship and his crew had laid dormant. However, that was about to change as a seaquake rocked the ocean floor. Within the ship, several servos clicked into place, and within seconds, the power returned.

" _ **OMEGA: ONLINE."**_ The giant Cybertronian proclaimed. He quickly used whatever working systems he had to find the crew. " _ **AUTOBOTS: FOUND. STASIS PODS: OPEN."**_

Just as Omega spoke, the pods that held the robotic crew unlocked, the cold air escaping as they did. The first robot to exit was a tall, strong-looking fellow with a red torso, shoulders, and arms, blue legs and hands. His head was more like a blue helmet with two antennae on either side of his head, two blue optics, and a solid silver plate in place of a mouth. He looked around as saw his fellow Autobots awaken and climb out of their stasis pods.

" _Autobots, sound off."_ He ordered.

" _Ironhide, still kickin'."_ A dark red and gray robot with a circular head, silver mouthplate, and blue optics.

" _Ratchet, reporting in."_ A white and red robot with a red pointed crown on his brow, a silver mouthplate and blue optics replied.

" _Strongarm, reporting for duty!"_ The blue & white robot said with a salute.

" _Uhhhh!"_ Crosshairs moaned as he rubbed his head. " _Crosshairs, wishing that crash had killed me."_

" _Pinpointer, reporting in."_ The small robot replied quickly.

" _HOYA! Warpath, ready to blow the slag out of some 'cons!"_ The burgundy Autobot proclaimed in excitement.

" _Blaster, everyone's cool on my end."_ The communications officer reported before pressing a button on the top of his chest. It then opened and ejected two large mechanical disks, one yellow and one red. The yellow one transformed into a tiger-like creature while the red one turned into a rhino-like creature. " _Steeljaw and Ramhorn are up and running too."_

" _Roadbuster, armed and ready."_ The large green-visored Autobot reported.

" _You can all rest easy, for the great Whirl is still operational! You may now applaud!"_ The one-eyed Autobot said before holding his arms out for an applause that never came.

" _Jetfire…"_

" _...and Jetstorm…"_

" _...and everything's okie-doakie, Optimus!"_ The twin transformers said in unison. Underneath his no-nonsense appearance, Optimus was elated that his entire crew survived the crash before turning up.

" _Omega, are you still functional?"_

" _ **SYSTEMS: 67% OPERATIONAL."**_

" _Oh, that can't be good."_ Ratchet said with a scowl.

Strongarm took a look around, and saw that some parts of the wall had begun to rust, which she confirmed as such after touching it. As she ran her digits over the wall, she scowled. This level of decay was worrying, they had clearly been in stasis far longer than intended.

" _Omega," Optimus said, addressing the ship."How long have we been offline?"_

" _ **ANSWER: 4,358,096 STELLAR CYCLES."**_ Omega replied. The Autobots reeled back in shock, their optics wide and willed some unidentifiable emotion.

" _ARE YOU SLAGGIN' KIDDING ME?!"_ Ironhide shouted before punching his stasis pod in anger, leaving a large dent in it. He would later get an earful from Ratchet about treating their equipment with more care.

" _No, there's no way we've been offline for that long!"_ Crosshairs said, his voice practically trembling. Pinpointer looked up at his partner with concern. He reached out to grab Crosshairs' digits with his own.

" _If we've been asleep for that long…"_ Jetfire began to say.

" _No. No. No, no, no, no, no, nonononononono…"_ Whirl repeated as he started to pace in a panic.

" _Enough."_ Optimus stated, finally regaining his composure and getting everyone's attention. " _It's true that we've been asleep for a long time. However, panicking won't help our situation."_

The other Autobots looked at each other before Roadbuster spoke up.

" _What do you want us to do, Prime?"_

Optimus contemplated for a moment before speaking. " _Blaster, see if our communications systems are still operational. If they are, attempt to contact any other Autobot forces."_

" _You got it, boss."_ The silver & yellow robot stated as Steeljaw and Ramhorn transformed back into disks and returned inside their deployer. He then transformed into a small red hovercar before blasting off to the bridge.

" _Ironhide, Roadbuster, Whirl. Take stock of our weapons."_

" _Roger!"_ The three stated with salutes before transforming into a dark red cybernetic truck, a green & orange hover jeep, and a blue high-tech helicopter.

" _Strongarm, Warpath, Crosshairs, Pinpointer. Patrol the ship and see what other damage has been done."_

" _Ya, ya, ya."_ Crosshairs replied with an optic roll before transforming into a green & black hovercar. Pinpointer transformed into its rifle form and slid into one of his partner's weapon compartment. Strongarm transformed into a blue & white hovercar while Warpath transformed into tank before heading off with Crosshairs.

" _Jetfire, Jetstorm. I want you to perform recon on this planet we have found ourselves on. See if you can get a clear picture of where we are."_

The twin Autobots saluted before running off to the airlock. They would have transformed, but high speed aerial alt-modes don't mix well with confined spaces.

" _What a mess,"_ Ratchet said dryly as Optimus just sighed. " _We better go and see what damage has been done to Omega's vital systems."_

" _Agreed."_ The taller Autobot replied before transforming into a red & blue hover truck while Ratchet transformed into a hover van and the two rolled out to do their job.

Speaking of doing their job, the Jet twins had finally reached the hangar. Jetfire looked around and noticed some water on the floor in front of the hangar door. He looked up and saw that the space where the two doors met was also wet.

" _Hmm. That's odd."_ The orange & white Autobot said, not noticing his blue & white brother walking towards the door switch. It was only after his more impulsive brother flipped the switch that Jetfire realized what happened and a massive burst of water swallowed them up and slammed them against the hangar walls.

" _I'm calling it now; this planet sucks."_ Jetstorm shouted before he and his brother transformed into their jet modes, blasting upwards through the water. After traversing hundreds of feet of water, the two jets burst through the surface of the ocean, greeted by a yellow sun, a blue sky, and several white clouds dotting said sky.

" _It's...beautiful."_ Jetfire stated in awe, taking in the view.

" _Save the sight-seeing for later."_ Jetstorm chimed in, snapping his brother out of his daze. The two flew around for a few minutes before coming across an intriguing wavelength.

Back inside Omega, Optimus and Ratchet stood in a chamber that held a massive orange and blue sphere in the center. Said sphere had seen better days, with several scorch marks and holes around from an internal explosion. Optimus continued to hand his old friend the tools he requested as Ratchet operated on the large cog. After a few minutes of work, Ratchet stood up.

" _So what's the diagnosis?"_ The blue-headed autobot asked. In response, Ratchet sighed and pinched his brow.

" _This is the worst part of the job."_ He whispered to himself before looking up at the ceiling. " _Omega?"_

" _ **YES?"**_

" _I'm afraid that when we crashed onto this planet, the shock of the impact caused a chain reaction within your Transformation Cog. And the Vorns of degradation didn't help. It seems… your T-Cog is unsalvageable."_

Omega said nothing. Optimus and Ratchet understood why their old friend was silent. There are three core components of a Cybertronian; The Brain Module, the Spark, and the Transformation Cog. The Brain Module held a Cybertronian's personality and intelligence. The Spark is what gave a Cybertronian life. And the Transformation Cog was what allowed a Cybertronian to scan vehicles, adjust their bodies for transformation, and even bring out internal weapons.

Damage to any one of these components would be devastating for any Cybertronian. Especially their Transformation Cog. In light of this, Omega's silence upon hearing this was understandable. However, this silence didn't last.

" _Testing! Testing! 1, 2, 3!"_ Blaster's voice shouted over the coms.

" _Ah! Right in my audio receptor!"_ Whirl shouted in irritation.

" _Well, at least the coms are working now."_ Strongarm stated.

" _Good thing too,"_ Jetfire said as he and Jetstorm re-entered the hangar, waiting for the water to drain. " _Speaking of good things, everyone come to the bridge. Me and Stormy found something you might wanna see."_

" _Will you quit calling me Stormy,"_ his brother said in irritation.

" _Well, you heard him. Autobots, to the bridge."_ Optimus stated before he and Ratchet transformed into their alt-modes, racing to the bridge.

A few minutes later, all of the Autobots had reconvened at the bridge, Optimus telling everyone to give him an update.

" _The weapon vault's mostly undamaged,"_ Ironhide reported. " _And aside from a few of them breaking during the crash, most of the guns look like they still work."_

" _Can't say the same about the engines."_ Crosshairs stated. " _Crash landing and then spending a couple thousand vorns underwater have turned them into soggy slag."_

" _There's a few small breaches in Sectors 28, 65, and 89."_ Strongarm reported. " _But once we get the Teletran drones back online, they should be easy to patch up."_

Optimus nodded before turning to Blaster. " _And we know communications still work."_

" _Well, sort of."_ The red & yellow Autobot corrected his leader. " _The personal com channel is still up, but I'm getting a lot of interference from this planet's magnetic field."_

" _In plain Cybertronian?"_ Warpath asked.

" _It's gonna take a couple of Solar Cycles before we get galaxy-wide communication back online. Same goes for the Spacebridge."_

The Autobot leader then turned to the twins. " _Jetfire. Jetstorm. You had something to say?"_

" _Okay, so while we were on patrol, Fire and I picked up some wavelengths coming from this planet's orbit."_ Jetstorm stated as Jetfire when to the main console, taking out a wire and plugging it into his head. The main screen then showed an image of the planet (showing several large landmasses with the rest of the planet being covered by water) and several satellites in orbit around it.

" _Turns out that natives of this world have made their own version of the Cybernet via a series of satellites around the planet. They call it the 'Internet'."_

" _So this world's inhabited."_ Optimus chimed in. " _Can this 'Internet' tell us anything about them?"_

" _You got it, Big Bot."_ Jetfire stated as the screens around the bridge started showing images of the planet's lifeforms, history, and infrastructure. " _While there are over 8.7 million different organic species on this planet…"_

" _Egh. Gag me with a utensil."_ Whirl whispered to Roadbuster, who in return, smacked the one-eyed Autobot in the back of the head.

" _...only one of them seems to have any kind of higher brain function."_ The orange robot continued, the main screen showing an image of a man and woman with pink flesh and brown hair. " _They're called Homo Sapien. Or more casually, humans."_

" _They're hideous."_ Crosshairs chimed in, earning a glare from most of the robots in the room. " _What? You're all thinking it. I'm just the only one with the bearings to admit it."_

" _As I was saying…"_ Jetfire said with an optic roll. " _...Humans seem to be the only species on this planet with the ability to create anything that could be considered 'advanced' technology. According the information available, when fully grown, the adult of the species are about the size of the average Mini-Con."_

" _Oh great,"_ Whirl chimed in again. " _So not only are we stranded on a planet full of organics, but a planet full of Mini-Con sized organics."_

" _You got a problem with Mini-Cons, One Optic?"_ Pinpointer asked with a scowl. Whirl growled, raising his arm before Roadbuster held him back.

" _Well, that's all pretty interesting, Jetfire. But how in Vector Sigma does this help us?"_ Ironhide asked.

" _Because…"_ The orange robot said as the screens changed to show the planet they were on, the solar system it inhabited, and the system's place in the larger galaxy. " _...this planet, Earth as the locals call it, is the third planet in this solar system. And based on the observable stars…"_

Optimus' optics widened as he realized what this meant. " _This is the Sol System! We landed on the resting place of the Cube!"_

" _Damn straight we did!"_ Blaster cheered, holding his hand up and sharing a high five with Jetfire.

" _Alright! That means the Great Cube somewhere on this rock!"_ Ironhide stated with joy.

" _I'll go get the Atomizers!"_ Whirl stated, confusing his fellow Autobots.

" _I'm afraid to ask, but why?"_ Ratchet asked.

" _Simple; we go to the surface, find whoever's in charge of the squishies, and tell them they give us the Cube or we melt them into tiny atoms."_ Whirl said as casually as someone would state the weather.

Awkward silence filled the room, the other Autobots looked at their teammate in shock, horror, embarrassment, and disappointment.

" _Are we sure he's not a Decepticon?"_ Jetstorm whispered to his brother, who simply shrugged in response.

Optimus sighed and looked at his second in command." _Ironhide?"_

" _On it, Prime."_ The black robot replied before going up to Whirl and socking him in the below his chest.

" _AH! RIGHT IN THE FAN BELT!"_ The one-eyed robot cried out, clutching his abdominal area in pain as he fell onto the floor, a few of the less mature Autobots chuckling at this display.

" _...so how are going to find the Cube?"_ Warpath asked. In response, Strongarm pulled a data pad from one of her compartments.

" _Well, Sector 349872 of the Cybertronian Foreign World Engagement Protocol states that upon arrival on a planet with unknown life, all personnel are to disguise themselves as something common on said planet."_

" _Correct, Strongarm."_ Optimus stated, making the blue Autobot smile at the approval. The red and blue robot then turned to Jetfire, who nodded and once more changed the images on the screen.

" _Lucky for us, the tools humans use to get around their planet, fight, and build are about the size of an average Cybertronian Alt Mode."_ The orange robot stated, turning to face the screen, which now showed the schematics for a flying vehicle called a Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. A projector lowered from the ceiling and created a three dimensional hologram of the same vehicle. Jetfire's optics glowed green before rays shot out from them and scanned the hologram of the schematics. Then, Jetfire's body began to change and shift to match the Earth jet, his chest becoming curved and wings sprouting from his back.

" _Alright, everybody. Listen up."_ Optimus stated. " _There's no need to involve the native species. Everyone who can, pick an Earth Alt Mode."_

All of the remaining Autobots went to different screens and began to use the web to pull up vehicle schematics. Jetstorm naturally choosing the same jet as his brother.

" _Stylish."_ Crosshairs said as he scanned a Chevrolet C7 Corvette Stingray.

" _Now that definitely says law enforcement."_ Strongarm said, scanning a Chevrolet Tahoe PPV.

" _Talk about firepower!"_ Warpath stated with glee as he scanned a General Motors M551A1 Sheridan ARAAV tank while Roadbuster scanned a M1117 Armored Security Vehicle and Whirl scanned a Bell AH-1 Cobra.

" _That's what I'm talking about."_ Blaster said as he scanned a Z12 Nissan Cube. Ratchet scanned a Ford E450 164" TraumaHawk, Ironhide scanned a GMC Topkick 4500 four-wheel drive pickup truck, and Optimus scanned a White Freightliner WFT-8664T cabover semi-trailer truck.

After their bodies adjusted to better fit their new alt-modes, the Autobots gathered at the hangar, Blaster remotely controlling the Groundbridge.

" _Autobots! Transform and Roll Out!"_ Optimus ordered before transforming into his alternate vehicle mode. Soon enough, the rest of the Autobots followed suit, Pinpointer turning into his rifle form and sliding into a compartment on Crosshairs' front. As they transformed, a small array appeared and fired a green beam, creating a green portal similar to a Spacebridge portal. And as soon as it did, the Autobots took off, determined to find the Great Cube.

 _ **Two months later…**_

 _Fire and twisted metal was all that he saw. The sounds of lasers and missiles penetrated his audio receptors. But what stood out more was the screaming. Screams of younglings and adults alike. Laughter from those that slaughtered them._

" _No…" Optimus said, unable to stop any of the carnage before him._

" _O-Orion…" The blue-headed robot turned and saw a purple and silver robot, his body half-melted as he reached his arm out._

" _Alpha Trion!" He said in horror._

" _Optimus…" A dark pink female robot said before she blasted apart by a massive one-eyed Decepticon._

" _Elita!" Optimus cried out. But when he turned, he founding himself staring into the barrel of a black fusion cannon. The wielder of said cannon covered in shadows, making his piercing red optics look even more terrifying._

 _The figure said nothing, the barrel of the cannon beginning to glow as the energy gathered, Optimus paralyzed with fear before he was engulfed by fusion energy._

" _AAAAAAHHHHH!"_ Optimus screamed as he woke up. He looked around and saw that he was not back on Cybertron, but in his recharge slab on the Omega. Realizing he wasn't going to recharge peacefully anymore, he unplugged the Energon cord from his chest and started to walk the halls.

 _ **It has been more than 60 Solar Cycles since we have woken on Earth, and still, we have not managed to find the Cube. However, our situation has gradually gotten better. During our stay, we discovered that underneath the crust of the planet is a near endless stream of magma, one of the primal forms of Energon. Spearheaded by Ironhide, we attached several Energon pipes that fed the raw energy directly into Omega's power reserves. So for the time being, our energy problem is solved.**_

 _ **The same cannot be said for our galactic communications. As Blaster said, the damage Omega received during our crash has caused damage to the communication and Spacebridge relays. For the moment, we are unable to contact or travel to any possible Autobot colony.**_

 _ **That is, if there any are any Autobot colonies. While I have tried my best to keep everyone optimistic, the logical part of my brain module can't but help but wonder. We have spent vorns in stasis. While we slept, the universe continued on. And in the silence, I can't help but think of every possibility that could've occurred during our long statis. Is the war over? Who won? Was there even a winner at all? Is Cybertron still the husk we left it as? Has some unforeseen cosmic event wiped it from existence? What of the Autobots and civilians aboard the Arks? Did they find new worlds to call home? Or the did the Decepticons kill them before they even had a chance?**_

 _ **These are the questions that haunt my processors. Questions I have kept to myself. After all, I am the Prime. My job to lead my people through our darkest hours, acting as beacon to guide them. I can't afford to seem uncertain in their optics. The only ones I suspect to see past this are Ironhide and Ratchet. And it would make sense. They are, after all, my oldest friends.**_

 _ **But my thoughts are also taken by the planet we have found ourselves on. While we have hidden ourselves among humanity as their vehicles in our search for the Cube, we have begun to learn more about them. And to both my joy and horror, they are alike in many ways.**_

 _ **They fall in love. Create life. Aspire to further greatness with every generation. But they also have the capacity for war. Punish people for their status in society. And other atrocities I had hoped were wholly unique to our race. But while there are small disputes between the countries of this world, they have, at least in this century, managed to avoid war on the scale of the Decepticon Uprising. So perhaps there is hope for this young race.**_

Eventually, Optimus entered the bridge, and smiled underneath his mask plate. Sitting at the consoles were Jetfire and Blaster. The red and yellow communications officer was busy monitoring communication signals on the slim chance that they might pick anything related to the Cube while the orange and white scientist was working on decrypting all the data he could get from Earth's Internet...or at least, that's what they should've been doing.

In the last few months, the Autobots had learned of Earth's culture. And some of them were more interested in it than others. Blaster, music aficionado that he was, had downloaded hundreds of Earth songs into Omega's database, and was currently bopping his head to the tune of some music called 'Rock' via an audio jack.

Jetfire, on the other hand, had become a fan of media from one of Earth's countries, Japan. Currently, he was watching a genre show whose name escaped Optimus' processor at the moment, though he was pretty sure Toku was in the name somewhere.

As Jetfire watched the brightly-colored heroes battle a monster with glee, it made Optimus remember that despite their skills, Jetfire, Blaster, and few other members of their crew were rookies as far as veterans like himself and Ironhide were concern.

" _Having fun?"_ Optimus asked, snapping Jetfire out of his stupor. In embarrassment, the young Autobot quickly closed the window he watching.

" _S-Sir!"_ He said with a quick salute. " _I was just taking a quick break!"_

" _Relax, Jetfire. I know how monotonous data filing can be."_ The Autobot leader stated before looking around. " _Let me guess, Ironhide's putting everyone through training?"_

" _Right on the money."_ Jetfire said, pulling up a live feed from the training area, which showed the Autobot second-in-command tossing Crosshairs into a wall.

" _Come on, ya node! My great great spark-giver could fight better than you!"_ The truck bot proclaimed with his raised fists.

" _I'M A TARGETMASTER, NOT A PUNCH BOT!"_ Crosshairs shouted in irritation while a few of the other 'trainees' laughed.

" _And Ratchet's on standby to fix them afterwards."_ Jetfire stated, another screen showing Ratchet hammering out a bump on Warpath's head.

" _I almost had him."_ The tank bot said, still a bit dizzy from his tussle with Ironhide.

" _Sure you did."_ Ratchet replied, more focused on his work than making small talk.

As Jetfire and Optimus continued to converse, Blaster picked up on something interesting. He opened a video file and played it. And upon seeing the contents of it, his optics widened in shock.

" _Boss, I think you should look at this!"_ The communications officer exclaimed as he took out his audio jack.

" _What is it?"_ The autobot leader asked.

" _Alright. So I was filing through Earth's communications and video relays, I picked up some footage from a human military base."_ He stated, bringing up the video that dated it for last night. Said video (which was footage taken from all of the base cameras) showed an ocher and red Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk helicopter approaching a military base in the human country called Qatar in the distance. Without warning, the copter unleashed a barrage of missiles, killing several of the base personnel and destroying a few of the parked jets. The human forces fought back, one of them eventually managing to hit the copter with a rocket launcher...and in response, the copter transformed into a robot with a yellow visor, and a purple Decepticon insignia on its chest.

" _A Decepticon!"_ Jetfire shouted in horror.

" _Not just any Decepticon."_ Optimus said with narrow optics as he continued to watch the carnage on the screen. " _That's Vortex of the Combaticons."_

" _That's not all."_ Blaster said as he zoomed in something the humans probably missed. As Vortex continued to fire at the humans, a black and red bird-like machine detached from his side and flew into the base's main communications room. " _If Laserbeak's here, that means Soundwave can't be far behind."_

And just like that, several of Optimus' greatest fears were made real. The Decepticons were still very much active and they were on Earth. The war was far from over.

 _To be continued…_

 **Author's Note 2: So I know what some of you may be thinking; This story is starting to sound a lot like the 2007 live-action movie. It's true that the movie is incredibly flawed and caused a bit of damage to the general public's perception of Transformers, it did introduce a lot of people to the franchise, so there's that. And trust me, the human characters we meet in this story won't be anywhere near as annoying as Sam Witwicky.**

 **And yes, there wasn't a lot of action in this chapter, but I felt that I did a pretty good job at setting up some the personalities and dynamics of the Autobots on Earth.**

 **Until next time, please remember to read, favorite, and review! See ya next time.**


	3. Chapter 2: The Human Element

**Author's Note 1: Transformers Reborn is a non-profit fanfiction.**

 **Transformers is owned by Takara and Hasbro.**

 **Any original characters and concepts are owned by Navek or xpegasus.**

 **Please support the official release.**

 **Before we start this chapter, let me just lay down one define rule for you guys to keep in mind while reading this story; all the Transformers are scale-accurate to their alt-modes. That means no Ratchet being able to carry Ironhide inside him, no 50-foot tall combiners (Dreamwave Devastator), no motorcycle bots being almost the same size as one that turns into a car (Prime Arcee), no Aircraft Carrier Transformers only being slightly bigger robots (Broadside), and no Thunderbolt planes being able to fit on a merry-go-round (G1 Powerglide).**

 **If a Transformer has an alt-mode with a defined size, their robot mode should match.**

 **Also, I've come up with a potential list of voice actors that would play the Reborn Autobots.**

 **Optimus Prime - Peter Cullen (but with his more casual G1 seasons 1 & 2 voice instead of the usual grandiose sage voice)**

 **Ironhide - Scott McNeil (he's a natural born Texan and he has experience voicing Optimus' second-in-command)**

 **Ratchet - Jeffery Combs**

 **Crosshairs - John DiMaggio**

 **Strongarm - Constance Zimmer**

 **Jetfire and Jetstorm - Jason Ritter**

 **Blaster - Bumper Robinson (Falcon/War Machine EMH voice)**

 **Steeljaw & Ramhorn - Frank Welker**

 **Warpath - Bill Fagerbakke**

 **Roadbuster - Ron Bottitta**

 **Whirl - Tom Kenny (the man can do insane)**

 **Pinpointer - Nolan North**

 **Omega Supreme - Kevin Michael Richardson**

 **So, let's start the next stage of the war!**

 _Chapter 2: The Human Element_

 _ **The Nemesis…**_

Unbeknownst to the people of Earth, the Decepticon warship known as the Nemesis was hovering in geosynchronous orbit over the blue planet, their cloaking field preventing anyone from detecting them. As Lugnut and Soundwave observed the planet below, another Decepticon leaned against the nearby wall, his arms crossed in front of him.

He was a red and white Cybertronian with black lining, and a pair of wings protruding from his back. His white faceplate and orange optics were surrounded by a square black helmet covered in ridges. Standing next to him (and looking just as bored) was a purple and black Cybertronian with a silver faceplate and red optics.

" _We're wasting our time with this blue mudball."_ The red & silver Decepticon stated.

" _As always, Starscream, your input is as useless as you are."_ Lugnut replied, making the black-headed flyer scowl.

" _Actually, I think I'm with Screamer on this one."_ The black & purple robot chimed in. " _We've been in this galaxy for almost five solar cycles and what've got to show for it? Nothing!"_

Hearing his friend back him up almost brought a smile to Starscream's lips….until he continued to talk.

" _I mean I could be on Velocitron, getting tanked on pure Nucle-O and oiled by some sliiiiick fembots. But no. Instead, I'm stuck on a warship with a bunch of screwjobs whose personality components have been permanently set to deadly serious."_

" _Is that so, Barricade?"_ A deep female voice asked from behind him, almost making the Con's spark leap out his torso in shock. Slowly, he turned around to face a towering robot made of deep magenta metal, an orange crown, piercing red optics, and an orange funnel over her mouthplate.

" _Perhaps I should let Lord Megatron know you'd like to 'retire' early."_

Starscream rolled his optics. " _Open mouth, insert stabilizing servo,"_ he whispered.

" _N-no, of course not, Lieutenant Strika! I'm 500% dedicated to Decepticon cause! All Hail Megatron and all that!"_ Barricade quickly spouted to cover his own aft, a sight of which Lugnut could only shake his head at. Ever since they picked up Starscream and Barricade from Velocitron, the two incompetent idiots had been nothing but a pain in his afterburner. Thankfully, his Conjunx Endura, Strika, and third-in-command, Soundwave, were always soldiers he could rely on.

Speaking of soldiers, the doors to the bridge slid open and a group of five Decepticons marched in single file, one of them being Vortex.

The most armored of the group was a dark green robot with an orange visor over his optics with a square black head and a cannon on his back. In front of him was a yellow, purple, and grey robot with a black head a purple visor covering his optics. Next and in front of Vortex was a brown and purple winged Decepticon with a purple visor over his optics. And finally, leading the march was a cobalt and black robot with a black head, an orange visor, and silver twin cannons on his back.

" _Combaticons,"_ the cobalt Decepticon shouted, his posture hard and straight " _sound off!"_

" _Brawl!"_ The green Con said with a salute.

" _Swindle!"_ The yellow Con shouted, doing the same.

" _Vortex!"_ The chopper Con said, also saluting.

" _Blast Off!"_ The brown flyer shouted as he saluted as well.

" _Onslaught!"_ the cobalt Con shouted as he saluted Lugnut.

" _Reporting in, Commander!"_ All five of them shouted. Now, this was a group of Decepticons that Lugnut had mixed feelings about. The Combaticons were the Empire's fiercest commando unit with an almost perfect track record. However, there was a rumor amongst the higher ranked officers that Blast Off, Vortex, Swindle, and Brawl had no real loyalty to the Decepticon cause, and were only loyal to Onslaught, not Megatron.

" _What took you so long?"_ Lugnut asked as he approached the group, his footsteps echoing throughout the bridge until he stopped in front of Vortex, his shadow dwarfing the Combaticon.

" _Well, the squishies were better armed than we first thought. Turns out they've discovered how to use rocket launchers,"_ The redheaded con stated.

" _Did you learn anything actually important?"_ Starscream asked.

" _No, but wasn't my job, right Soundwave?"_

" _Affirmative."_ The red-visored con stated before a large disk ejected from the Nemesis' main console and transformed into Laserbeak, who perched himself on his Deployer's shoulder. " _Planetary Military Data; Processed."_

Soon enough, all the screens on the bridge began to show specs of footage of Earth's military hardware. From vehicles to firearms. However…

" _Wait!"_ Lugnut shouted before pointing at a particular screen. " _Rewind and replay."_

Soundwave did just that and the screen showed an image of a warhead begin dropped from a bomber plane. And when the warhead was above a city, it detonated with a force that left the Decepticons and the Vehicon soldiers speechless.

" _Vector Sigma."_ Starscream cursed.

" _What...what was that?"_ Blast Off asked.

" _The inhabitants called it a nuclear warhead."_ The blue deployer explained. " _A long-range form of bombardment that weaponizes either fission or fusion nuclear reactions. Currently, there are over 15,000 of these weapons on the planet."_

" _HOLY SCRAP!"_ Vortex and Brawl shouted.

" _How many of those would it take to destroy the Nemesis?"_ Strika asked.

" _Five."_

" _Well, Starscream, looks like your idea to scan for native alt-modes was the right call."_ Onslaught said to the flyer.

" _Of course it was. I wasn't Megatron's second-in-command for nothing."_ The red and white con boasted.

" _But this kind of reinforces my point."_ Barricade chimed in. " _We should get the frag out of here if the natives are packing that much firepower."_

But to the shock of everyone, the purple & black Decepticon's statement was met with a laser blast the knocked him into a wall, energon leaking from his new wound. And the one who fired it was none other than their commanding officer, his right hand transformed into a rectangular energy cannon. Smoke rose from the barrel.

" _Disgraceful. We do not cower from inferior races! WE ARE DECEPTICONS! WE ARE THE TOOLS OF MEGATRON'S GLORIOUS WILL! THIS IS THE PLANET HIS MORTAL ENEMY, OPTIMUS PRIME, WAS ATTEMPTING TO REACH! WE WILL NOT LEAVE THIS SYSTEM UNTIL WE DISCOVER WHY! VORTEX!"_

" _Y-yes, commander?"_

" _ARE YOU SURE YOU SLAUGHTERED EVERY ORGANIC AT THAT BASE?!"_

" _Um...like, 80% su-"_

And just like Barricade, Vortex was blasted into the wall, the Combaticons restraining themselves out of fear that the same would happen to them.

" _ONSLAUGHT,"_ Lugnut screamed, his optic overflowing with rage. " _AFTER KNOCKOUT HAS FINISHED REPAIRING YOUR INCOMPETENT SUBORDINATE, YOU AND YOUR TEAM WILL TAKE A SHUTTLE PLANETSIDE AND HUNT DOWN ANY AND ALL ORGANIC SURVIVORS, THEN BLAST THEM TO SLAG BEFORE THEY GET THE CHANCE TO ALERT THEIR SUPERIORS! ARE WE CLEAR?!"_

With his fists clenched and his anger barely contained, Onslaught replied, " _Transparently."_ Brawl, Swindle, and Blast Off carried Vortex to the Med-Bay. Now slightly calmed from his tantrum, Lugnut returned to his chair.

" _Starscream, make yourself useful and bring Barricade to the Med-Bay as well."_ Strika stated.

" _...right."_ The flyer said as he picked up his injured friend. But as he did, he and Soundwave shared a knowing look with each other before the Con and his injured cohort left the bridge.

 _ **Meanwhile…**_

A ground bridge opened near the scorched remains of the Qatar base. Optimus, Blaster, Roadbuster, Whirl, Warpath, Jetfire, and Jetstorm stepped out of it.

" _Damn."_ The blue flyer said as he surveyed the damage. All over the base were burning vehicle parts, rubble from the buildings, and human corpses that had either been sliced up, stepped on, or blown up.

" _Looks like my nemesis hasn't lost his touch."_ Whirl stated as he examined one of the sliced tanks.

" _I thought Killmaster was your nemesis."_ Roadbuster chimed in.

" _He was. Until I cut his spark out. Then I met Vortex and instantly hated the guy. Best sword-fighter in the universe my aft."_

While the two former Wreckers continued to converse with each other and the others weaved through the debris, Optimus looked down at one of the dead soldiers. The sight of the dead lost in battle was not anything new to the Prime. But that didn't lessen the horror of the situation. Without saying a word, the red & blue Autobot leader walked towards the sand surrounding the base and began digging.

" _Optimus?"_ Warpath asked.

" _These soldiers deserve a proper burial."_ He said as he dug a grave for each and every soldier that had perished in Vortex's attack. Without a word, Warpath began to gather the bodies.

While this was going on, Steeljaw, Ramhorn, and Jetstorm cleared the debris around the bases' main computer while Blaster and Jetfire plugged into it.

" _Now time to see what old Soundwave was trying to find."_ The red deployer said as he and Jetfire weaved through the data. A few minutes later, Optimus and Warpath had finished burying the last of dead soldiers just as Blaster and Jetfire walked towards them.

" _Looks like this was a recon mission to see if Earth's military was a threat."_ The orange Autobot surmised as their search showed that Laserbeak was hacking various military files. It didn't take a genius to figure out why Soundwave's loyal Mini-Con was doing so.

" _Is a there a chance of survivors?"_ Optimus asked.

" _Since this was Vortex by himself, maybe."_ Roadbuster explained. " _But that's probably not going to be the case for long. Onslaught's got a reputation for being a perfectionist."_

Optimus contemplated this for the next few seconds before addressing his troops. " _Alright, everyone but Blaster and I will stay here, find the human survivors, and protect them in case the Combaticons try their hand at hunting them."_

" _You heard the Prime, boys! Let's roll out!"_ Roadbuster said as he transformed into his alt-mode and took off, Whirl, Warpath, Jetfire, and Jetstorm doing the same.

" _Come, Blaster, we have work to do."_ Optimus stated as he and his communications officer opened another ground bridge and returned to Omega, where the truck bot would continue were Jetfire left off in their search for the Cube. Somewhere and at sometime, the denizens of Earth must have encountered the relic. Some small detail had to exist out there that only a Cybertronian would spot. And they would have to be quick to find it, before the Decepticons could kill any more humans.

 _ **Mission City, Massachusetts…**_

In the middle of a junkyard, a bored blonde teenage girl sat in the driver's seat of an old Volkswagon Beetle. One look at this girl let you know that she was one to keep up with the latest trends, and stuck out like a sore thumb in this setting. She pulled out her smartphone and sighed before poking her head out the window.

"Can you speed it along?" She said to the person working on the car's undercarriage.

"You can't rush genius, Katie," An older female voice replied as she tinkered away. "Alright, try it now."

Rolling her eyes at the 'genius' statement, Katie turned the keys in the ignition, the old car revved to life like it was fresh off the production line.

"Finally!" The teen said with glee as the older woman got out from under the car. And while Katie stuck out like a sore thumb, she was definitely more at home in a junkyard, her outfit consisting of a white undershirt, a pair of brown overalls over them, brown boots & gloves, and a pair of goggles over her eyes.

In terms of physicality, the only things that showed at this woman and Katie were related were their blue eyes and dirty blonde hair. While Katie was slim, this woman was toned from years of working with machinery.

"What'd I tell ya?" The older woman stated as she slapped the hood of the car. "I can get any old junker to work like new."

"Ya, ya." Katie said. 'Like you haven't said that a hundred times, Erika.'

But as the two sisters continued to chat, they were unaware that a man about Erika's age was sneaking up behind her. He was a man of hispanic descent with warm brown skin, short brown hair, a matching short beard, and green eyes. His outfit consisted of a pair of jeans, sneakers, a dark green carrier bag slung over his right shoulder, and a t-shirt that read "MCPD".

Without warning, he wrapped his arms around Erika's waist, slightly freaking her out until he spoke.

"Ma'am, we've received some heavy noise complaints. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to take go downtown." He said with a flirtatious tone and smile.

"Oh, are sure about that, officer?" Erika said in a similar tone while she grazed his beard with her finger, making Katie roll her eyes as she removed the clutch from underneath the car.

"Uhhhh. Can't you guys wait until I'm gone before you get all gross?"

"Hi, Katie." The bearded man greeted before looking over the repaired car. "So you finally fixed the beetle?"

"Yup!" Erika said with glee. "And all it took was four days of elbow grease."

"And I would hug you out of gratitude, but…," Katie said before motioning towards Erika, who was covered in sweat, dirt, and oil.

"By the by, I've been wondering why you wanted a car this old." Erika asked with an inquisitive look.

"Hey, even gals like me can appreciate the classics." The younger dirty blonde said as she adjusted the driver's side mirror.

"Oh, really?" The bearded man said with a smirk. "And it's not because 'Six-Pack Mick' from Right Round is an antique car enthusiast?"

The two girls reacted as you would expect. Katie was stunned and mortified by what he just said while Erika was trying (and failing) to hold in her laughter.

"H-how...do you…"

"You really need to change the privacy settings on your Facebook page."

"Six-Pack Mick? R-really?" Erika asked her little sister between laughs. In anger and embarrassment, Katie got into the beetle, strapped on her seatbelt, and turned on the ignition.

"Have fun being gross and stupid." Katie grumbled before driving away.

"Say hi to Mick for me."

"F(*K YOU, LUKAS!" The blonde and pissed off teenager said as she and her new-old car vanished in the distance.

"You really need to stop messing with her." Erika stated, despite still inwardly chuckling.

"I know. But she just makes so easy," Lukas said before motioning towards the house. "After you, madam."

After a slight chuckle at her boyfriend, Erika asked, "You got the movie?"

"Yup," Lukas said as pulled out a Blu-Ray entitled 'The Wicker Man'. "And I hope we got the beer. 'Cause trust me, we're gonna need it."

 _ **The Nemesis…**_

Barricade grumbled as he walked through the halls. As if getting blasted by his insane superior officer wasn't enough, he had to deal with Knock Out, who, no less than eight times, tried to convince him to switch to a more 'sporting' paint job. He liked his black and purple color scheme fine, thank you very much. And so, he figured he just pop into his chambers and catch a gladiator match on the DIBN (Decepticon Intergalactic Broadcasting Network).

" _Barricade."_ The con turned and saw Starscream and Soundwave standing in a nearby corridor, almost as if they were hiding, the red flyer motioning him to come towards them. And with a reluctant sigh, he walked towards the corridor.

" _What do you want, Screamer?"_ Barricade said in a bored tone.

" _Not here,"_ Starscream stated as he led Soundwave and Barricade to the engine room. " _Barricade, my old friend, it has become abundantly clear-"_

" _Stop right there."_ The purple & black con chimed in. " _Whatever you're about to ask me to do, is it in any way going to undermine Lugnut's authority?"_

A predatory smile appeared on Starscream's face. " _Oh, maliciously."_

" _I'm in."_

" _Excellent!"_ The black-headed flyer replied before turning to Soundwave. " _I told you he'd be up for it."_

The cobalt deployer said nothing before he started to search through his data files.

" _So what are we doing anyway?"_ Barricade asked.

" _Well, you see, while Soundwave was filing through the Earthling's 'Internet,' he found something...interesting. And possibly the very reason Optimus Prime was attempting to reach this mudball in the first place."_

The deployer then brought up a holo-screen that showed a YouTube video. The title was "Tomboy flubs genealogy report." Said tomboy was a younger and clearly more awkward Erika, who was stuttering, constantly dropping her newspaper prop, and at one point fell on her face.

" _Um...what am I watching?"_ A confused Barricade asked.

" _It doesn't matter what it is. But what does matter are the objects the fleshling is holding."_ Starscream stated as Soundwave zoomed in on the video. The newspaper young Erika was holding detailed how an explorer named Archibald Hawkins supposedly found an 'unearthly' cube in the arctic circle and later went mad, drawing strange symbols all over his work and his cell. The newspaper showed some of those symbols. And while to the average human, they seemed like nonsense…

" _That's ancient Cybertronian."_ Barricade chimed in.

" _Correct."_ Soundwave said as he began to project images of various cybertronian relics. " _Based on the description in the Earth article and the symbols, I have determined why this world was of such importance to the Prime."_

And soon enough, the deployer brought up an image of a metal cube covered in cybertronian symbols, an almost holy light radiating from the lines around it. It was an artifact that even the lowliest of Decepticons had heard of.

" _N-no way!"_ Barricade said, stunned. " _The Great Cube is on this planet?!"_

" _Correct,"_ Starscream stated. " _It would seem that when the old council launched Cybertron's most powerful artifacts into the stars, the Cube made landfall on this rock."_

" _If we get the Cube, we could restart Cybertron's core!"_ Barricade said with a smile. " _We could go home!"_

" _And the ones who restart it will be received as heroes. Even by Lord Megatron."_ The flyer said as he placed his arm on Barricade's shoulders.

" _So when do we start?"_ The eager Decepticon asked. At the same time, the Autobots had also found that video and came to the same conclusion. As such, Optimus had called Blaster, Strongarm, Crosshairs, and Pinpointer to the bridge and debriefed them of the situation.

" _It would seem that this Hawkins human is the key to finding the cube."_ Optimus finished up. " _Strongarm, Crosshairs, Pinpointer, I want the three of you to go on reconnaissance with Blaster. Find her and we find the Cube."_

" _Okay, Ms. Regs I get. But why send us and Mr. Loud Noise with her?"_ Crosshairs asked.

" _Because if I figured it out, it's a safe bet that Soundwave's done it too and has come up with a plan."_ The red deployer explained.

" _And no matter what, we cannot let the natives become aware of our presence. It would only complicate matters."_ The Prime stated. " _Is that understood?"_

" _Yes, sir!"_ Strongarm, Blaster, and Pinpointer said with a salute.

" _Ya, ya."_ Crosshairs said with arms crossed. Soon enough, the five Autobots arrived in the hangar and Omega activated the ground bridge. And as Strongarm, Crosshairs, Pinpointer, and Blaster transformed and rolled out, Optimus couldn't shake the sense of dread growing in his spark.

 _To be continued…_

 **Author's Note 2: I know, the opening chapters are incredibly short. But trust me, that's all going to change when the action starts. And yes, we have been introduced to two of our three main human companions for the Autobots.**

 **Also, writing and coming up with personalities for this version of the Decepticons was a lot of fun.**

 **Until next time, please remember to read, favorite, and review! See ya later!**


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